Fadumo Dayib, who fled her homeland 25 years ago, has decided she wants to be the president of Somalia.

She’s the first female candidate in the nation and going up against some fiery opponents in a male-dominated country. Boundless courageous, Ms. Davib is unshaken by death threats from militants angry over the idea of a woman running for office.

She learned to read at age 14, an impressive feat for any Somalian woman – and used that skill to earn a master’s degree in health care and public health, and a second one in public administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Davib and her family left as refugees fleeing Somalia’s civil war when she was just a child, living briefly in Kenya before settling in Finland. She returned to Somalia briefly as part of a U.N. mission to build clinics and provide health care in 2005, but left the country again when the U.N. deemed it was no longer safe to stay.

Davib believes she must return to heal the country’s pain while it still suffers. She’s beaten enormous odds during her 42 years and is highly optimistic. Somalia is still recovering from more than 20 years of civil war and its aftermath, but Davib believes the country is poised for a brighter future.